Something ‘wild’: ’Cats beat visiting Karns 56-28

Coming off of a tough loss at Campbell County on Oct. 4, the Oak Ridge Wildcats couldn’t afford a let down against Karns (1-7, 1-5 District 3-AAA) Friday night on Blankenship Field.

by Brad Pope

Coming off of a tough loss at Campbell County on Oct. 4, the Oak Ridge Wildcats couldn’t afford a let down against Karns (1-7, 1-5 District 3-AAA) Friday night on Blankenship Field.

The ’Cats — led by their high-scoring offensive attack — cruised to a 56-28 victory over Karns, scoring more than 50 points for the third time this season. With their 18th straight win over the Beavers, Oak Ridge improves to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in District 3-AAA.

The Wildcats got the ball rolling early, turning an opening drive fumble by Karns into a 57-yard drive to take an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Sophomore running back Isiah Jones ran the ball in from four yards out; and, after a quick stop by the defense, senior quarterback Jaylin Henderson connected with senior wide receiver Blake Goins on a 24-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-0 advantage.

The Beavers answered with a 27-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead in half — and make it a 14-7 ball game with 9:07 to play in the first half. Unfortunately for Karns, that would be as close as they would get, as the Wildcats would reel off three straight scores to blow the game open.

Oak Ridge drove 80 yards on the following series, capping the possession off with another touchdown run by Jones. The Wildcats defense kept the Beavers off the field, and junior running back Jaleel Luster punched the ball in for a 6-yard score to give his team the 28-7 lead.

A punt return by junior wide receiver Brandon Bonds would set up Isiah Jones’ third touchdown run in the half, but Karns put together a late drive to cut the score to 35-14 with 1:07 to play before the break.

With just over a minute to play in the first half, however, Henderson proved there was plenty of time to add to the lead. The 6-0, 165-pound quarterback connected to three different receivers in just 45 seconds, hitting WR Goins on the run from 24 yards out to take a 42-14 lead into halftime.

Oak Ridge head coach Joe Gaddis was impressed with the offense as a whole, but complimented his quarterback in particular for growing each week.

“He’s a senior, but he’s kind of like a sophomore in that he has little experience,” said Gaddis. “He’s getting better every week.”

After playing sparingly as a sophomore, Henderson skipped football his junior season but decided to come back to football with the return of Gaddis as coach. Henderson got his first start in Oak Ridge’s home-opener this year against the Clinton Dragons, to whom the Wildcats handed a 51-14 loss Sept. 6 at Jack Armstrong Stadium.

“It’s very critical that he understands the game — and can adapt to and adjust to things that happen on the field,” Gaddis explained. “He’s doing that like a seasoned veteran right now … and that’s huge for our offense. “

Both teams would sputter offensively to begin the second half, but the ’Cats finally added to their lead with 2:30 to play in Q3. The Beavers fumbled the football and Henderson capitalized with a 3-yard play action run to increase Oak Ridge’s lead to 49-14. A 36-yard touchdown pass by Karns cut the lead to 49-21, but a final 26-yard TD pass from Henderson to junior wide receiver Jiminquas Johnson with 9:05 to play would keep the game out of reach.

The Beavers added a late score, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the deficit.

Johnson’s scoring play made him the fifth different Wildcat player to reach the end zone on Friday night. The Oak Ridge offense continues to prove it is multi-dimensional and has a variety of weapons to keep its opponents — and even its head coach, sometimes — guessing.

“It’s kind of strange,” said Gaddis. “We’ll have a player have a really good game one week, and then sometimes that player won’t get a pass for a week and someone else will step in.”